Williams issues warning to Wales

Friday 25 January 2008 00:11 BST

Shane Williams has warned Wales they will face "a far better" Australian side on Saturday than the one that beat them in last year's World Cup.

The Wallabies beat the Welsh 32-20 in the Millennium Stadium 14 months ago but, after seeing Australia's form on their current European tour - which has included victories over Italy, England and France - Wales wing Williams, the newly-crowned International Rugby Board player of the year, believes he and his team-mates face an even tougher challenge than last year's.

"They are a massive threat," said Williams. "They have one of the deadliest attacking back-lines in world rugby."

He added: "(Captain) Stirling Mortlock is probably playing the best rugby of his life at the moment, and Matt Giteau is one of the form 10s in the world.

"They've had a very successful tour, so it doesn't get much easier these days, unfortunately.

"I think they are a far better side than they were at the World Cup. The results on tour have shown that.

"I believe they are playing better rugby now than they have done for a long time."

Wales head coach Warren Gatland will name his team later on Tuesday, with one change guaranteed following the season-ending knee injury suffered by lock Ian Evans against New Zealand.

And Williams is determined to see Wales make one final push for that elusive southern hemisphere success after defeats against South Africa and New Zealand.

He continued: "The performance against New Zealand on Saturday, irrespective of the score, was a better performance than the South Africa game, so we are learning and progressing. The way we have been playing, and the effort the lads have shown, we deserve something out of these autumn Tests."